IBM scientists have created software that permits physicians to make use of an avatar to get hold of medical data in the same manner in which they interact with patients.

The prototype technology, created at IBM's Zurich, Switzerland, research center, uses an avatar, a 3-D representation of the human body, to permit physicians to visualize patient medical records in an entirely novel method

Called the Anatomic and Symbolic Mapper Engine, ASME lets a doctor to click with a computer mouse on a particular part of the avatar's body to trigger a search of medical records to retrieve pertinent information.

Andre Elisseeff, IBM Researcher, who led the project, said that it is like Google Earth for the body. In hopes of speeding the move toward electronic healthcare records, we have tried to make information effortlessly available for healthcare providers by combining medical data with visual representation, making it as easy as possible to interact with data that can improve patient care.

IBM said its researchers are currently exploring integrating speech technology into ASME.